There was a festival across Fiore today, and the towns had been decorated accordingly, prompting the Fairy Tail guild to take a day of rest and go out. Lucy had been excited to get to spend time with her guild mates, especially since she had been taking a lot of jobs with team Natsu recently, and hadn't had proper one on one time with any of the girls for the past month or so.

Lucy stood in a bookstore, fingers tracing over the cover of a new book that she had been interested in reading. She turned it around, reading the summary on the back. A romance. She found herself reading more books within that category recently, wishing at times that the words she read would be a reality one day for her. She pouted, turning to her friend.

"It's not fair, Levy!"

The solid script mage had found a few books on her own. While Lucy was interested in fiction, Levy was getting more books on magic and enchantments, claiming 'there's no such thing as knowing too much.'

Her gaze shifted from the book titles to her friends eyes, "what's not fair, Lu?"

"These books!" She said, gesturing to the section on romance. "The odds that anything that happens in these books would happen to someone in real life, let alone mine, is unlikely! It's not fair."

"Aw, come on, I'm sure it can't be that far off!" Levy comforted.

"Easy for you to say. I guess you and Gajeel ending up getting together was pretty unpredictable."

Levy's face flushed, still a bit shy about the thought of her and Gajeel dating.

"Well think of it this way: if Gajeel and I could work, then I'm sure you and a certain someone can, too!"

"Are you trying to imply something?"

"Are you going to pretend that you don't know what it is I am implying?"

Lucy sighed, clutching the book to her chest. Her head tilted thoughtfully as her mind was plagued with images of her partner, pink hair a mess and a toothy grin that made her blush.

After being teased about her relationship with Natsu for months on end, and denying any and all accusations about having a crush on the boy, Lucy had finally realized that her friends were actually right. She had only half admitted to Levy that she liked the dragon slayer, and that was just a couple of weeks ago. The two didn't have time to really talk about it, so Lucy had almost forgotten she'd even told Levy.

While Lucy had tried to remain the same person she had been before her discovery, she couldn't help but notice how on edge she became when she was around Natsu. Her stomach fluttered in ways it hadn't before, and even Erza and Gray took notice, asking if she was all right. The celestial wizard merely shrugged them off, leaving the two unconvinced, but they didn't prod further.

"—Hello? Earth to Lucy?" Levy waved her hand in front of the blonde's face.

"Sorry, Levy," Lucy laughed awkwardly. "Just lost in thought, y'know?"

"You know he probably feels the same way, right?"

Lucy thought for a moment. "I don't know. I know he isn't as dense as everyone says he is, but Natsu hasn't treated or acted any differently around me. Not like I have with him."

"That's because guys aren't as emotional as girls," Levy scoffed. "He probably doesn't think it's as big of a deal as you do."

Lucy pondered her words, unsure what to think of it all. Of course she wanted Natsu to feel the same, but if he did and he wasn't as affected by it as she was, how come he hadn't said anything to her? Wouldn't he have said he liked her somehow by now? It didn't make sense to her.

"I hate this," Lucy said, "it feel's like my mind's all scrambled."

Levy laughed. "It happens. Look, why don't you just hint at it that you like him? See if he takes the bait."

"Hint at it?," Lucy repeated. "I don't know. What if he doesn't get it? Or what if I'm too subtle? Or what if i mess up and fumble my words? Oh, or what about—"

"Relax," Levy cut her off, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "You can do this. Don't overthink it, just be you!"

Lucy smiled at those words, thanking Levy for her help and encouragement. The pair continued to scan the aisles, Lucy content with her one book while Levy found another two to add to her pile. They checked out, and Levy bid her friend a farewell when she found Gajeel outside the store.

Lucy waved goodbye, turning and becoming fixed on finding Natsu. She knew the longer she waited, the less likely she was to say or hint at anything. If she kept thinking about it, she'd get lost in her words for sure and end up messing it all up. She walked with purpose, forcing her mind to not think every possible scenario and instead repeat one phrase over and over.

Don't think, just do.

Natsu was stuffed, having just eaten enough food to feed a small village. He and Happy had started their day grabbing lunch, and after eating until they almost felt sick, they were delivered their bill.

Happy almost fainted at the sight of the amount of the bill, shouting back a "thanks Natsu" as he quickly took flight and left the dragon slayer to pay it himself. Natsu shouted a "get back here!" as he raised his fist in the air, catching the attention of everyone in the restaurant.

He muttered a sorry, emptying all the jewel he had to cover the bill. After the waiter had taken it, Natsu got up and headed out, patting his belly in satisfaction.

"It would've tasted even better if Happy didn't leave me to pay for it all!" He said to himself.

As he was walking, his eyes found Lucy further up the path. Their gaze met, and Natsu could've sworn he saw a flash of fear in her eyes. Now that he thought about it, she'd given him that look a lot recently. Was she scared of him?

The two ended up meeting right outside a magic shop. Natsu greeted Lucy, and he was confused when it seemed she tripped over her words in her attempt to say hello back. His eyebrows raised at her.

"Are you all right, Lucy?" Natsu asked with a sniff. "You've been acting weird lately."

Lucy rubbed the back of her neck nervously, remembering the words she had chanted inside her head up until this point. "Really, you think so? Is there any reason you think I've been acting off?"

She put it out there a bit, seeing if he would pick up on what she was saying.

"I dunno, is it your period or something?"

He got a kick to the ribs, followed by an enraged, "didn't anyone tell you you're not supposed to say things like that to a girl?"

"Hey, that hurt!" Natsu said, hand on his stomach.

"Oh did it? Guess my training's paying off then."

"Pfft, it didn't actually. I just wanted you to feel bad."

"You deserved that!"

"Did not!"

"Did too—" Lucy stopped herself. She took a deep breath, then continued. "Natsu, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

The fire mage put his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers. "Yeah? Okay shoot."

Her eyes darted to the ground, locking on a small smear that now seemed to be a very interesting marking in the dirt.

"Well, uh…" she fidgeted with her fingers. "It's true I have been acting different around you lately."

"I knew it!"

"It's because… I like— I mean, when I'm around you, things feel good. It feels right."

"You're acting different cause of that?"

"N-No," she stuttered, "look, what I'm trying to say is… I feel different than I used to when I'm around you."

"Okay…" Natsu said, and Lucy could tell he wasn't getting what she was trying to say.

"I feel different, because I— well I think anyway, that I like you, Natsu."

He nodded slowly, and Lucy pictured gears in his brains grinding very slowly, processing her words at an alarmingly slow rate.

"Thanks! I like you too!" He flashed his signature smile.

"You do?"

"Of course! You're my best friend, Luce. Kinda hard not to like your partner!"

Her heart dropped, and any courage she had to tell him how she felt seemed to have vanished. Could she have put it any more clearly? Sure, she mixed her words just a tad, but had he really not understood what she meant?

Natsu took notice of the smile that faded from her lips.

"Is something wrong, Luce?"

Her shoulders slumped, posture defeated, and voice shaky as she answered.

"Yeah, just feel like I got hit with something."

"Are you feeling sick?"

"Something like that."

"Well let's find Wendy and get you fixed up!" He reached for her arm, grabbing it and gave a tug for her to follow. Her arm didn't budge and her stance stood firm.

"That's okay, Natsu. I think I'm just gonna go home."

"But the festival just started! It's one day a year, Luce, we can't miss it!"

She smiled at him. "You stay here, I'll be fine."

She pulled her arm out of his grip, fighting tears that began to pool and threatened to spill. Natsu immediately took notice, reaching out for her once more and about to ask her what was wrong. He was a second late, fingers brushing her skin as she had turned and ran, hand covering her face.

"Lucy!"

Natsu called out, but she didn't turn around. She was lost in the crowd, and before Natsu could go after her, Erza had stepped in front of him. Her arms were crossed and she merely shook her head at him, obviously aware of what had happened.

"I think it's best you leave her alone right now, Natsu," the requip mage stated.

Natsu wasn't sure what went wrong, or why Lucy was crying.

Was it something I did?

X

I love writing NaLu! Review for a part 2?